The European Commission must stop burying its head in the sand as press freedom deteriorates in Member States
Reporters Without Borders (RSF), which contributes to the European Commission's annual report on the rule of law in the European Union (EU), condemns the Commission's persistent inaction as Member States continue to attack press freedom. RSF calls on the Commission to assume its responsibility to enforce its rules and do everything in its power to halt the erosion of press freedom in Europe.
RSF unequivocally stated its severe assessment of the state of press freedom in the EU in its contribution to the 2025 Rule of Law report — its fifth consecutive submission to the annual report: the Commission’s recommendations are systematically ignored by Member States without any consequences. This analysis is based on a sample of eight European countries that represent the continent’s diversity — ranging from higher to lower positions in the RSF World Press Freedom Index — along with one candidate country, Serbia.
“RSF's contributions to the European Commission's report on the rule of law paint a damning picture of the Commission's inaction in the face of press freedom violations in both Member States and candidate countries. It must stop burying its head in the sand and make full use of every legal tool at its disposal — including the European Media Freedom Act — and launch infringement proceedings against Member States that fail to comply with EU rules. It must also consider reforming the conditionality of EU funds to Member States to include press freedom, making these measures fully effective. The Commission is in a position to act. It's time for it to show some political courage!
National legislation ignored
The systematic disregard of the European Commission's recommendations reveals one of two fundamental obstacles to enforcing rules around press freedom: Member States do not respect their own laws. In Greece (which ranks 88th in the RSF Index), Romania (49th) and Slovakia (29th), the independence of journalism —a public service — is legally enshrined, but in practice, media outlets are subject to a politicised and opaque management system that threatens their editorial independence. In Hungary, the problem is characterised by the distortion of democratic structures: while freedom of the press is legally recognised, media pluralism is virtually non-existent due to Viktor Orban's regime exerting almost total control over the country's media landscape. Meanwhile, Bulgaria (59th) lacks the political will to enforce the legal guarantees of editorial independence for public television, according to RSF information.
The limited effectiveness of regulatory authorities
The second major problem concerns the regulatory authorities of Member States, whose independence and effectiveness are essential to media pluralism as enshrined in the European Media Freedom Act (EMFA). Many of these regulatory authorities lack effectiveness or give in to political pressure. In France (21st), the regulatory body Arcom is independent but fails to take initiative within its mandate. In Slovakia, the entire existence of the independent regulator is threatened by President Fico and his government. In Serbia (98th), which has been a candidate for EU membership since 2012, the regulatory authority is only respectful of the independence required under European law in theory; in practice, it is manipulated by political authorities and unable to curb propaganda from both Russia and the Serbian regime. And while independent of political power on paper, the Hungarian Media Council is similarly misused to benefit Viktor Orban's regime. Meanwhile, Poland (47th) faces a regulatory authority that has been instrumentalized to serve the far-right Law and Justice Party (PiS), which, despite its electoral defeat in 2023, continues to exert control over parts of the media landscape.
The European Union, however, is well equipped to deal with these threats: first, through a reform of the conditionality of funds, and then through the EMFA, a text that takes RSF’s recommendations on press freedom into account. it is now up to the Commission to prove its effectiveness.
Aller plus loin
